1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a terminal structure used for electrically connecting various equipments mounted on an automobile, and more particularly to a terminal holding structure of a board mounted-type connector employing square wire members press-fitted and held in a terminal holding wall of a connector housing.
2. Related Art
There are known various conventional terminal holding structures in which board mounted-type terminals (for mounting on a board), each comprising a square wire member, are press-fitted and held in a terminal holding wall of a connector housing. For example, in a board mounted-type terminal structure disclosed in JP-A-2000-243495, a board mounted-type terminal is formed from a square wire material, and is press-fitted and held in one of a plurality of terminal holding holes formed through a terminal holding wall of a connector housing, and a pair of first retaining projections for pressing (orbiting) respectively into opposed side surfaces of the terminal holding hole are formed on and project laterally from a retaining portion of the board mounted-type terminal which is to be held in the terminal holding hole, and further a second projection for pressing (or biting) into at least one of a top surface or a bottom surface of the terminal holding hole is formed on and projects vertically from the retaining portion of the board mounted-type terminal which is to be held in the terminal holding hole.
In the board mounted-type connector of JP-A-2000-243495 employing the square wire members, the holding of the terminal on the housing is maintained by the press-fitting of the terminal in the terminal holding hole (formed through the terminal holding wall of the connector housing) and the biting engagement of the first and second projections of the terminal. The amount of biting is large, and therefore the holding is positively effected. On the other hand, a large load is encountered when inserting the terminal into the housing since the biting amount is large, and therefore the speed of insertion of the terminal is inevitably lowered. And besides, the terminal has a complicated shape, and therefore it is difficult to precisely form or shape the terminal. To enlarge the terminal holding hole is effective as a countermeasure to deal with the lowered terminal-inserting speed. However, the terminal holding force is lowered as a result of enlarging the terminal holding hole.